Murphy On Costs of Iran War: Everything is More Expensive Because of One Person's Insane Decision

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) today spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate, alongside several of his Democratic colleagues, in support of a War Powers Resolution to end Trump's war with Iran. Murphy focused his remarks on the unsustainable, and still growing, economic impact of this war, forcing American families to pay thousands of dollars more for basic necessities like gas, clothing, and medical care. As Trump's war approaches the 60-day mark, Murphy called on his Republican colleagues to stop the rampage on Americans' wallets and join Democrats to end the war.

Murphy stressed the economic chaos of this war is hitting working people hardest, while the billionaire class is left unscathed: "I think we all are angry that our [Republican] colleagues are not allowing this body to do its job. But we are also angry that the cost of this war is not being borne by members of the United States Senate, is not being borne by Donald Trump's billionaire and corporate friends. The cost of this war is being borne by American consumers, by American small businesses, by American farmers."

Murphy did the math on the outrageous dollar amounts Americans' will be forced to shell out at the gas pump because of Republicans' inaction: "The scoreboard is gas prices… Let's just put this in real terms. If you're a commuter in this country who has a longer than average commute, you are probably buying somewhere short of 1,000 gallons a year in auto fuel. And so when the price jumps by $1 - and it may soon jump by $2 - that's 1000 to $2,000 out of your pocket… 40 percent of American families have less than $400 in the bank in liquid assets ready to spend on an emergency like a car repair or an emergency medical bill. When you are spending $1,000 more every year just to fill up your tank, you go from being on the brink of financial crisis, into financial crisis."

Murphy warned the worst cost increases are still to come: "It's not just gas prices. You are about to see a spike in the cost of technological products, automobiles, fabrics, clothing, medical devices, everything is getting more expensive because of one person's insane decision."

Murphy slammed Republicans for standing by as Trump throws Americans' finances into disarray, instead of voting to end this war: "As we head into the summer and the price of everything for American consumers gets higher and higher - their summer travel, their plane tickets, their clothing, their groceries - there is only one person to blame: Donald Trump. And there is only one party to blame: the Republican Party, which could choose to join us and vote for one of these resolutions to end the war, to allow us to get back to a point where prices are coming down instead of spiraling upward."

A full transcript of Murphy's remarks is available below.

Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Schiff for bringing another war powers resolution before this body. I have lost count on how many votes we have had, but we are doing this for one reason and one reason only.

The Republican majority refuses to do its constitutional and statutory responsibility. The Constitution says we declare war. The President doesn't get to make war without the consent of Congress. And our founders were very intentional investing that power in us. They did not want an unchecked, runaway executive being able to make war overseas without the consent of the people, and I hear in Senator Van Hollen's voice his anger.

I think we all are angry that our colleagues are not allowing this body to do its job. But we are also angry that the cost of this war is not being borne by members of the United States Senate, is not being borne by Donald Trump's billionaire and corporate friends. The cost of this war is being borne by American consumers, by American small businesses, by American farmers.

And so I just want to spend my few minutes updating you on what the state of the American economy and what the state of the global economy, inextricably linked to the American economy, is today, 60 days after this illegal war began.

The scoreboard is gas prices. Americans today are paying, on average, about $4.30 a gallon. Gas prices are up 20 to 30% from the beginning of the war. The price of Brent crude is now over $120 a barrel, compared to $70 before the war. The only reason the gas prices have gone up by 20 to 30% is the war. That's the only reason that Americans are paying those extraordinary amounts at the pump.

And let's just put this in real terms. If you're a commuter in this country who has a longer than average commute, you are probably buying somewhere short of 1000 gallons a year in auto fuel. And so when the price jumps by $1, and it may soon jump by $2, that's 1000 to $2,000 out of your pocket. Okay, 30 to 40% of American families are living paycheck to paycheck. 40% of American families have less than $400 in the bank in liquid assets ready to spend on an emergency like a car repair or an emergency medical bill. And so when you are spending $1,000 more every year just to fill up your tank. You go from being on the brink of financial crisis, into financial crisis. And again this isn't bad luck. This isn't a natural disaster. Donald Trump chose to increase gas prices in this country to $4.30 a gallon.

Diesel prices are up even more. Diesel prices are up 50%. This is the fuel that America's farmers and America's trucking industry uses, and our farmers, were already dealing with the consequences of tariffs. 70% of farmers right now in this country say that they will not have enough money in order to plant the next crop, because the tariffs and the diesel prices are putting many of them out of businesses. Bankruptcies of farms are up almost 50% from before Trump was president. Inflation was 2.8% before the war, well above the Federal Reserve's target. It is now 3.5%. That's an extraordinary increase, largely driven by fuel costs. Cost increases for everything else are coming very soon as well.

Airfare prices up by 25%. So if you're online right now, looking to book a ticket for your family's vacation, if you're planning far ahead booking tickets for Thanksgiving or Christmas, you're paying 25% more than you would have paid before the war. Reason for higher airline prices: the war.

But this crisis is spiraling around the world because oil, $120 a barrel, is what fuels our fabrics and clothing industry globally. So the cost of polyester and nylon is going up and up and up and so in the sewing hubs of Bangladesh and other countries that send products to Walmart, where a lot of Americans buy their clothes, we're starting to see production interruptions because of the increasingly high price of the components of fabrics.

In Singapore and Taiwan it's becoming more expensive for companies to produce medical devices like syringes and catheters because of the high, increasing price of plastic.

Aluminum prices have been rising ever since the war in the Middle East started because of a tax on aluminum smelters in Iran and other Gulf countries.

Helium, a product that is produced in the Middle East, the price going through the roof, and so the semiconductor manufacturing industry globally is facing shortages, because helium is an important product for semiconductors.

So it's not just gas prices. You are about to see a spike in the cost of technological products, automobiles, fabrics, clothing, medical devices, everything is getting more expensive because of one person's insane decision.

No president, Republican or Democrat, prior to Donald Trump, made the decision to invade Iran, to launch a full scale war against Iran, because they were told the consequence of doing that is the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and there is no military response by the United States that will reopen the strait. And so every president prior to Donald Trump, whether they were Republican or Democrat, decided not to wage a full scale war on Iran because they knew one of the consequences would be the meltdown of the American economy and the meltdown of the global economy. And it would be not billionaires and big corporations that would pay the price, it would be regular Americans, regular minimum wage Americans, middle class Americans, who would pay that price.

And so as we head into the summer and the price of everything for American consumers gets higher and higher - their summer travel, their plane tickets, their clothing, their groceries - there is only one person to blame, Donald Trump, and there is only one party to blame, the Republican Party, which could choose to join us and vote for one of these resolutions to end the war, to allow us to get back to A point where prices are coming down instead of spiraling upward. This is a choice that our Senate Republican colleagues make every week to vote for continuing this war and for continuing this disastrous price escalation on ordinary Americans. I yield the floor.